5k Every Day in the Month of May 2017 (Day 25)

I got another double-dose of running in today. Yay!

I woke up to my bride getting ready for her daily run and I decided to join her. Out of nowhere her knee started acting up several days ago and she has been running with a lot of pain in her right knee. Not fun. I have been trying to tape her up with some KT Tape, but it’s not quite doing the trick. She had that happen before a couple of weeks ago, but the pain disappeared as quickly as it appeared. For her sake, I hope it quickly disappears again!

She is rocking the 5k Every Day in the Month of May challenge, though. A lot of people are! Great job, everyone!

For my first 5k, Jodi and I ran 3.1 miles in 31 minutes and 48 seconds, which was an average pace of 10:13 per mile.

I got a second run in this evening with my buddy, Randy. He had a goal of running home from the Orrville YMCA, which ended up being 11 miles. He had attempted the run a couple of weeks ago, but did not quite make it.

You know what they say… if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.

Today was that day, and he nailed it! It was a rainy, fun 11 miles. We ran at an 8:21 per mile pace and finished the run in 1 hour, 31 minutes, and 53 seconds. Great run!

Last week I was leaning towards trying to get another 70+ mile week, but after a great 20 miler last Friday, and with this week being the first week of “Project: Marathon”, I have decided it would be best for me to try to stick to my training plan as much as possible.

I have not been doing great with that.

According to my plan, I was only supposed to run four times this week, but at least seven times seemed more appropriate… Today I was supposed to do hill repeats. Missed it. Oh well. After May 31 I will commit myself to that plan. Until then, I still need to finish my current goal.

Tomorrow should be an easy run. I plan to get a longer run in on Saturday and follow-up with another easy run on Sunday as I continue to set my sights on a full marathon on Wednesday, May 31.

Today as I was reading John 5-7, there were two main things that stood out to me. The first was how plainly Jesus claimed to be equal to God. While there is no direct quote from Jesus saying, “I am God”, there were plenty of direct quotes from Jesus that clearly meant as much. In fact, though he spoke in parables, the religious leaders had no problem understanding exactly what he was saying.

This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. – John 5:18

I have heard many skeptics try to make the case that Jesus never claimed to be God. That statement is simply not true.

The other part of today’s reading that stood out to me was from John 6.

Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. – John 6:53

I once wanted to call a Polen Band album “Cannibals & Vampires” based off of this verse. It is funny to think about now, but I thought it would be an interesting idea to talk about being a flesh eater and blood drinker. Thankfully the band talked me out of it (and we named the album “Alive To Shine”).

Of course, the crowd did not understand what he was saying, and it would not become clear until Jesus instituted the practice of communion during the “last supper” before his arrest. But I love this passage because he unapologetically speaks the truth regardless of the consequences.

I think a lot of people look at the trial of Jesus and assume that Jesus did not speak out very often in his lifetime. They assume, based on the trial and his conversation with Pilate and Herod, that the godly approach to life is to be silent. That is simply not the picture that we get from the majority of Jesus’ life. He was not afraid to speak up. He was not afraid to speak the truth. He was not afraid of the consequences.

After Jesus says these things, John gives us this insight into what was going on:

When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” – John 6:60

It was a hard saying, for sure. Honestly, much of what Jesus has to say is hard. We know deep down that it is right, but to really live it out would often require a significant heart change and lifestyle change. Notice what happens next:

After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. – John 6:66

What Jesus was saying was simply more than many of his disciples were willing to do, so they turned back and no longer walked with him.

Did he run after them, begging them to stay? Did he water down his message to make it easier for them?

No.

Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” – John 6:67

If they said yes, he would be utterly alone. That was the price he was willing to pay. Simon Peter was the first to speak up:

Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life – John 6:68

Simon Peter understood that following Jesus is hard, but when it comes right down to it -what’s the alternative? Following Jesus leads to eternal life. Anything else leads to eternal death.

I had a wet run today. I ran 3.13 in 26:49 which gave me a pace of 8:34. It was a wet run but I had to think the weather has been pretty in May for running.

“When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?””
‭‭John‬ ‭6:25-28‬ ‭ESV‬‬
It’s funny how they asked where he came from but Jesus could tell they were just wanting the worldly stuff. He was wanting them to have more. If they wanted. Seems like humans have not changed to much from back then to today.

I do believe I have forgotten to post. I am running…past two days on the treadmill. Which is a good place for me to work on speed. I am afraid of falling off (no i don’t hang on) so my legs just naturally seem to be willing to go faster especially when I see the numbers and just mess with the speed each mile.

Wow, great job Randy! There’s no way I could pull off 11 miles. 3’s for me! lol
I had a nice run. It wasn’t a record breaker by any means, but it was nice and steady. The light rain was peaceful and the temps were just right. From doing several 5K’s in a row, full runs, my legs were really feeling it, so it was a smart move doing a few run/walk 5’k’s. This one went nice and smooth!
I’m not sure anymore if I’m in the right chapters. I read John 5-7, but here you mentioned John 3. So I’m ahead or just plain lost lol. Esther way, it’s been good. What stood out to me was Jesus coming up to the woman at the well. Talking about her being married 5 times. He forgave her and her life changed. She went telling people about him. How many people go through several marriages and get nothing but judged for it?! Yes, marriage should be a one time deal, two become one flesh. But things happen. Especially when Jesus isn’t the center of the marriage. We need to be more forgiving and less judgmental twards people who have gone through a divorce. I guess being in the middle of this situation hits home for me cuz I’ve been getting it from both sides. Support and criticism. But, I know Jesus loves me and will never leave me. That’s all that matters. Thanks for these blogs. They’re inspiring and very helpful to understand the scriptures better. I’m done rambling now.

This morning as I was walking through a park on my 5k I saw 5 gallon buckets next to some smaller trees as a way of watering. These verses came to mind. “On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” John 7:37‭-‬38 NIV. I first had to think about Jesus being that water source for me. Am I getting my drink from him? I then thought about, am I a water source for someone else? Is there “living water” flowing out of me?http://bible.com/111/jhn.7.37-38.NIV

Cannibals and Vampires is cracking me up! Oh my….. I’m glad you had the sense to listen to the band!

Randy was amazing and I am so proud of him!! He is rocking this 5K! I did a treadmill 5k in about a third of the time you guys took to run 11 miles. Ha! My time was 30:09 and 9:42 pace. Goodbye day 25!

There was too much that was just amazing today in the reading. One of the smaller things that stood out to me especially in this age was John 5:41-44 where Jesus is telling them that He doesn’t accept praise from men because He knows them. He says that He has come in His Father’s name and not been accepted but others have come in their own name and been accepted. That is so true still today. I have sadly seen it especially in so many popular writers who seem to hide under this thin (and getting thinner) veil of Christianity while proclaiming things that go against the Bible and then being praised for it and getting book deals! Especially being praised for their “bravery”. It’s not bravery to come out in agreement with the world’s viewpoint – the world will love you. What is brave is standing strong in the Father’s name and proclaiming truth. I think that most people were not created to handle huge successes well without being tempted to give in to making the majority of people happy. I’m sure it’s insanely difficult to have a huge following and still stand firm on what is right. It’s hard enough for me as just a regular average person to always be willing to stand firm on what is right and I know I often fail at that!

Melissa and I did a pretty light 5k along the beach, and we also got the reading in. As I went back to think about what stood out, I realized that as I read through the miracles in this section, I just kind of breezed through them like they weren’t even a big deal. I have read about them and heard about them so many times that I think they maybe felt more like stories and less like actual events that the savior of the world did. This is quite convicting. When I take a step back and realize the awesomeness of what Jesus really did, it stings a little that I read over them and didn’t get excited about it simply because I’ve read it or heard it so many times.

Man, it must be tough doing all of those beach runs!!! Haha… Good challenge about being amazed by Jesus! It is so easy to forget, like you said, that these are actual events and not just stories. AMAZING!

Ministry Support

JEFF POLEN MUSIC is a non-profit ministry, and we are able to produce Christ-focused resources and travel to share the love of Christ through music, message, and service because of the faithful support of people who believe in the ministry and have been blessed by the ministry. If you would like to support this ministry, please use the link below.

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 1,559 other subscribers

Email Address

Our Purpose

To point others to Jesus Christ who is the source of all truth, love, life, and good… and in the process, not miss Him for ourselves.